Abū Zuhayr Azhar Bin Ismā'īl

Prayer – Prohibited Timings Part 1

Two (2) of them are attributed to action. They are after one’s prayer of Śubh until sunrise and after one’s prayer of ‘Àsr until sunset. The evidence for this is the narration of Ibn Abbas, May Allah be pleased with them both, who said, “People, of whom the most extraordinary of them to me is Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet, Salutations of Allah and His Peace upon him “prohibited prayers after ‘Àsr until sunset and after Śubh until sunrise.”

Three (3) of them are attributed to the time of the day. They are (i) the moment the sun rises until it ascends (ii) iśtiwa’ (the moment the sun crosses the meridian) until it declines, and (iii) iśfirar (appearance of yellow gleam) until it sets. The evidence for these is the narration of ‘Uqba bin ‘Āmir, may Allah be pleased with him, who said ” Three moments of the day in which the Prophet, Salutations of Allah and His Peace upon him, had prohibited us from praying or burying our dead are when the sun is beginning to rise until it ascends, when the sun is becoming high and the shade is almost disappearing and when the sun is inclined to set until it sets. Is it offensive to pray nafl prayers for one who has prayed the two raka’as of fajr sunna? There are two wajh (opinions of ashāb) with regard to this. The first is that it is offensive as per the narration of Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Prophet, Allah’s Salutation and Peace upon him said ” Let a witness from you inform those who are not present, not to pray after fajr (true dawn) except the two prostrations” The second opinion is that it is not offensive because the Prophet, Allah’s Salutation and Peace upon him did not prohibit it except after Šubh until the sun rises”.

Commentary

Imam an-Nawawī in his commentary of the above said:

The Hadith

The Hadith of Ibnu Abbas is narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim and the phrasing of their narrations are as follows: ” Pleasing men, of whom the most pleasing to me is Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, witnessed that the Prophet of Allah, Allah’s Salutation and Peace upon him prohibited praying after Šubh until the sun rises, and after ‘Ásr until the sun sets”. As for the Hadith of ‘Uqba bin ‘Āmir, it is narrated by Muslim with an addition: “when the sun is becoming high and the shade is almost disappearing until it declines”. The hadīth of Ibn ‘Umar is narrated by Abu Daud, at-Tirmiźi and Ibn Majah with a hasan chain except that one of the narrators is mastūr. At-Tirmiźi had previously graded it to be gharīb.

the Wordings of ash-Shirazi

His aforementioned wording “liajli al-fi’l” (due to action), in fasīh arabic should be “min ajli” instead. While his wording ” wa hiya ba’da śolati śubhi (and they (singular feminine is used) are after praying Šubh…..” is more appropriately “wa huma (dual instead)”. And his wording ” naqburu fī hinna (we burying in it)”, the ba could take either a dhomma or a kasra (naqbiru) in fasīh arabic. And “it stood at midday” (translated above as: when the sun is becoming high and the shade is almost disappearing – from lexicon) refers to the time of istiwā’ (sun crossing the local meridian). And his saying tadhayyufa means tamīlu (to incline to, as translated above). The intended meaning of the “prostrations” are the two raka’as of fajr sunna. ‘Uqba bin ‘Āmir is from the well known companions, may Allah be pleased with them all. He is of juhani descent. With regard to his kunya, there are five narrations with regard to it, one of them is Abu Hammad. He lived in Misr which was under the control of Mu’awiya. He died there in the 58th hijri year.

The Ruling

As for the ruling of the matter, it is offensive to pray in the five periods mentioned by ash-Shirāzi. The offensiveness of the first two periods are attributed to acts. This essentially means that the offensive periods does not enter by mere passage of time. Instead, it enters when the prayer of Šubh or ‘Ásr is performed. As for the three periods, it’s offensiveness is associated to mere passage of time. As how it was articulated by ash-Shirāzi and the jumhūr: the offensive periods are indeed five. A group, on the other hand mentioned: They are three: From the prayer of Śubh until the murtafa’a (rising high) of the sun, from the prayer of ‘Ásr until the sun sets, and the time of istiwā’. These encompasses the earlier five periods. The manner in which the first was phrased is, however better. This is because for one who has not prayed Śubh until the sun rises, it is still offensive for him to pray nafl until the murtafa’a of the sun to the extent of a spear. Similarly, for one who has not prayed ‘Ásr until isfirār, it is offensive for him to pray nafl until the sun sets. This was clearly understood in the first phrasing unlike the second. This is because the offensiveness of praying during the isfirār of the sun is due to two reasons in the first phrasing and one reason in the second.

Know that the offensiveness during sunrise extends until the murtafa’a of the sun to the extent of a spear. This is the sound opinion with which the author prescribed in the Tanbīh, as well as the jumhūr. There is a wajh pertaining to this narrated by the Khurāsānis that the offensiveness comes to an end when the disk of the sun rises completely. Their evidence for this is the (1) hadīth of Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, Allah’s Salutation and Peace upon him, {prohibited praying after fajr until the sun rises, and after ‘Ásr until the sun sets}, narrated by al-Bukhāri and Muslim, and both narrated from the (2) narration of Abu Sa’īd al-Khudri as well. The maźhab sought proof from the (1) hadīth of ‘Amr bin ‘Abasa, may Allah be pleased with him who said, {I said Oh Prophet of Allah, tell me about the prayer. He said Pray the Śubh Prayer and then abstain from prayer until the sun rises up until it does murtafa’a. This is because when the sun is rising, it rises between the horns of shaitōn while the kuffār at that moment prostrate to it. And then pray! For indeed the prayer is witnessed and attended until the shadow is found to be as small as a spear. And then abstain from prayer! For indeed at this time the hellfire overflows. And when the shadow is present, pray! For indeed the prayer is witnessed and attended until you pray ‘Ásr, then abstain from praying! until the sun sets for indeed it sets between the horns of shaitōn. At this time the kuffār prostrate to it.} Narrated by Muslim. The narration of the rising of the sun till its ascension is supported by the hadīth of ‘Amr bin ‘Abasa which connects several hadīths. I have clarified these narrations and the connection between them in the commentary of Śaheeh Muslim. There is no khilāf that the offensive period after ‘Ásr does not enter by mere entrance of the time of ‘Ásr. Rather, it does not enter until one prays ‘Ásr. As for Śubh, there are three wajh. The first, which is the śaheeh opinion as per the jumhūr is that it does not enter by the occurrence of fajr. Rather, it does not enter until one prays the obligatory prayer of Śubh. Second: it enters by the sunnah prayer of Śubh. Third: by the emergence of fajr as per the opinion of Mālik, Abu Hanifa, Ahmad and many of the scholars. Their proof is as mentioned by the author, the (1) hadīth of Ibn Umar with the (2) hadīth of Hafśa, may Allah be pleased with her, {The Prophet, Salutations of Allah and His Peace when fajr emerges did not pray except for two light raka’as.} narrated by Bukhāri and Muslim. And the maźhab’s response to it is that this does not constitute prohibition, while it had been mentioned earlier about the hadīth of Ibn ‘Umar with regard to its chain. Even if it is thābit, it had to be interpreted in a way to reconcile with the rest of the hadīths.